


Talking

by stinkyworms



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not beetlands unless you squint, and sometimes people get mad at him, and then the Tantrums begin, beetlejuice talks too much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25206418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stinkyworms/pseuds/stinkyworms
Summary: Re-integrating a demon into your lives doesn't always go smoothly. And with Beetlejuice, it's an unspoken truth that everyone is just waiting for something to set him off.Some hurt/comfort feat. Beej and the Maitlands
Relationships: Beetlejuice & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland
Comments: 7
Kudos: 85





	Talking

**Author's Note:**

> My friend suggested writing some Maitlands and Beej hurt/comfort. I hope you like it!

Beetlejuice, Adam was increasingly becoming aware, talked a _lot_. It was something they had known since they met him, obviously, but it had taken the demon reintegrating himself into the family (something they were all still getting used to) to fully realise how much he just wouldn’t shut up. A couple movie nights of non-stop running commentary, dinners where the attention was solely on one person (even when said person had a mouth full of food), and “group” conversations where nobody could go more than a sentence without Beetlejuice headbutting his way in had really sunken in how much this demon could, and would, talk. The sheer amount of spit Beetlejuice seemed capable of unleashing onto them was just an annoying cherry on top of an extremely irritating cake.

It was absolutely exhausting.

Adam had theories, of course. He and Barbara had discussed the fact that, after several hundred years of being alone and invisible, he was just enjoying the attention. There were also times, Barbara had noted, where it looked like Beetlejuice wasn’t actually expecting anyone to reply to him, because he would just continue a rambling train of thought without pausing for anyone else to speak. At times, Adam almost felt sorry for him, and he had tried his best to be patient. But after an entire month of Beetlejuice’s presence increasingly ruining peaceful evenings with incessant chatter, Adam found any sympathy he had for the demon running low.

The sentiment was clearly shared with the rest of the household, as Adam looked around the living room to see it was not just him and Barbara staring at the TV with dead eyes. An episode of the X-files was playing, a show Adam had convinced Lydia to watch with him and had soon got the entire family hooked (Barbara moreso begrudgingly, she never shared his love for Mulder and Scully).

However, Adam couldn’t even tell what episode was playing, because he couldn’t shut out the sound of Beetlejuice piping up every five seconds to make some kind of joke, innuendo, or otherwise inane statement that made multiple people audibly groan. Unfortunately for all of them, the demon didn’t seem to be capable of taking the hint. Right now, he was bobbing up and down on the sofa with excitement, much to Charles’ visible chagrin.

“Oh, _oh_ , I have seen this one before. Yeah, yeah, _yeah_ , this is the one where Scully gets the cancer diagnosis” Beetlejuice said, loud enough to drown out most of what was happening on screen.

X-files spoilers, it seemed, were the straw that broke the camel’s back. Adam watched as Lydia clenched her fists, stood up, and turned towards Beetlejuice with a look on her face that actually made Adam question which one of them had crawled out of hell.

“For God’s sake, will you just _SHUT UP_!” Lydia practically screamed.

There was a moment of tense silence, the entire family’s eyes on Beetlejuice. While Lydia still looked angry, everyone else had recoiled away from the demon. It was an unspoken truth that the adults of the house had been subtly tiptoeing around him, waiting for some kind of outburst. For Lydia’s sake, they had collectively decided to give him a second chance, on the basis that he followed some basic rules. So far, it had been fine, but they all knew Beetlejuice was a ticking time-bomb, one perceived slight away from having a total meltdown.

In truth, Adam wasn’t sure how they would actually be able to get rid of him if it happened, short of an excorcism, and that wasn’t something he wanted to play around with. Not after last time.

Given how Beetlejuice had responded to any kind of negative criticism when they had first met, Adam braced himself for the worst. He expected escalation on Beetlejuice’s part. Shouting. That shock of red hair they had seen when he had held the family hostage. Eyes burning like the fires of hell.

Instead they all got, was silence, to Adams surprise. Beetlejuice’s entire demeanour had changed. Whereas seconds ago, he had been waving his arms, excitedly demanding everyone’s attention, he now looked resigned, deferential. His head was lowered, and his eyes were looking at his lap, where his hands where clutching each other tightly.

“M’sorry,” was all Adam heard him say before Beetlejuice disappeared.

Normally, when he made an exit, it would be with the most amount of drama possible. Flashing lights, smoke, sometimes the illusion of a snake that Delia always seemed to forget wasn’t actually real. This time, he just disappeared with a faint ‘pop’.

Lydia settled back down onto the armchair, kicking her legs up and over the armrests. There was more tension as the adults in the room waited for something, anything. But there was only the drone of the television. Adam felt Barbara relax beside him, her cold arm brushing his.

“You probably shouldn’t have yelled at him, Lydia,” Charles said, putting on his best Dad Voice, though not sounding fully committed to the role.

“Who cares? We can finally have some quiet, let him mope,” Lydia snapped back at her father, “He’ll be over it by tomorrow.”

Adam shifted, feeling conflicted. He wasn’t exactly on good terms with Beetlejuice, even if he had saved Lydia’s life. He had agreed, along with everyone else, that Beetlejuice could stay if he continued to behave himself, but he hadn’t fully forgiven him yet.

But watching him react to Lydia, the only person who seemed to genuinely enjoy his company, well… Call him too nice, but Adam actually felt kind of bad for the guy. Beetlejuice had looked sincerely, genuinely, _hurt_.

Adam sighed, and moved to stand. Barbara touched his arm, and he turned to see her giving him a worried look that said, _You don’t have to go after him._

“I’ll be right back,” He said, and she let him go.

He ascended the stairs slowly, listening out for any signs of a tantruming demon on the loose. However, all seemed quiet, until he got to Beetlejuice’s room. They had given Beetlejuice the only spare room left in the house when he moved in. It was the smallest, being a converted office space, but he had seemed genuinely grateful that they were willing to give him anything at all. Adam hadn’t seen the inside of the room since that day, and the thought of what was waiting for him on the other side of the door made him shiver. As far as he was aware, nobody except Beetlejuice had even gone in there after he started inhabiting it. Even Lydia avoided it. If they hung out, it was in her room.

Adam approached the door, and paused, as the sound of hushed mumbling could be heard. It was unmistakably Beetlejuice’s voice, but Adam wasn’t sure whether he was talking to himself or not. He decided to bite the bullet, and rapped three times on the door.

Immediately, the noise from the room stopped.

“It’s, uh, me… Adam,” Adam called out, “Can I come in?”

There was more silence for a second, and Adam thought Beetlejuice was just going to wait for him to go. He had half a mind to. If Beetlejuice wasn’t actively tearing up the house, then it was probably safe to assume he could be left alone.

But then there was a _NO_ from the inside of the room, and the door flew open. It wasn’t Beetlejuice, it was one of his clones. The clone looked a lot like him, but it – _He? She? They? –_ was smaller, and had softer features, and smiled up at him warmly in a way that would seem alien on the real Beetlejuice’s face. Adam hadn’t had much interaction with the clones, but he knew they weren’t really capable of proper speech, they mostly just yelled and followed whatever instructions Beetlejuice wordlessly gave them.

However, as quickly as the clone opened the door, they were yanked away by the real Beetlejuice. The door flew open wider with it, and Adam got a good look at what Beetlejuice had done with the room. It was, expectedly, a mess. Beetlejuice had used whatever power he used to transform the house the first time he was here, and the room had been mutated from what was once Adam’s quaint little study when he was alive to a horrible, gaudy, monochromatic monstrosity. There was a good deal of the clothes Charles had gifted Beetlejuice strewn around, along with wrappers and cartons and bottles and tissues and stuff Adam didn’t want to look at long enough to identify. The window had been removed entirely, so there was no natural light, and the room was instead bathed in an intrusive green glow from source Adam couldn’t quite locate.

Three more clones sat on the bed in the corner, holding on to each other and watching Beetlejuice with curious eyes as he threw their counterpart to the floor. The clone hit the ground with a thud and a squeak, and Beetlejuice pressed a foot to it’s chest. Immediately, the clone started to convulse, clutching at the floor, and making a pained gargling noise at it stared up at Beetlejuice with wide eyes. Adam couldn’t see Beetlejuice’s face, but his hair was turning to the shocking red shade that Adam had only seen once before. The other clones didn’t seem concerned, they continued to watch with the same curious expression as they clutched each other, but Adam couldn’t stand to watch for more than a few seconds.

“Beetlejuice, stop it,” Adam said, taking a step across the threshold of the room.

Beetlejuice turned his head to look at Adam, his face contorted into a snarl, and for a second Adam thought he might turn on him. But then the anger softened into surprise, like he had forgotten Adam was there.

“Shit,” Beetlejuice murmured, under his breath.

He removed his foot from the clone, who continued to twitch for a couple seconds before going still. Beetlejuice took a step away from Adam, looking all too much like a cornered animal. Adam was about to try and defuse the situation, to ask what the _hell_ was going on, when the clone on the floor sat up and wrapped its arms around Beetlejuice’s legs. It was smiling serenely, as if Beetlejuice hadn’t been torturing it merely seconds before. At the same time, a clone from the bed detached itself from its peers and waddled over to also throw its arms around the demon. 

Beetlejuice flinched, and looked away. A flash of light and a puff of smoke later, and the clones were gone. Adam felt like he had seen something he shouldn’t, and suddenly felt extremely awkward. He opened his mouth to speak, to apologise, to _something._ But Beetlejuice was already speaking. 

"I didn't want to stay here, anyway," Beetlejuice said.

Adam spluttered, "I-- What?" 

"I didn't want to _fucking_ stay here," Beetlejuice repeated, louder this time, and it was obvious he was working himself up, "I only came back here because Lydia asked but I don’t even like it here it’s stupid and there’s all the dumb rules and I ha-- And I _hate_ all of you. So I’m going and I’m _never_ coming back. I’ll see you all in _hell._ " 

By the end of the tirade, he was shouting, but his voice was wobbling too. He must have sensed that Adam wasn’t convinced, because Beetlejuice made an inhuman snarling noise, baring all his teeth. Adam flinched back. Coming up here was a mistake. They had waited for Beetlejuice to be set off for _months._ And now it was happening, and it was Adam’s fault for being nice enough to come and try to talk to him.

Adam’s reaction seemed to give Beetlejuice some confidence, as he immediately started advancing, and Adam’s heart sank. The light above sparked and flickered, casting shadows all over the room and Beetlejuice’s face, making him look a lot less human.

"What's going on?" Barbara's voice rang out from behind, and Adam felt the cold touch of his wife's hand on his shoulder. 

Beetlejuice straightened up, clearly taken aback by Barbara's sudden appearance. His face seemed to go through a number of expressions, before twisting back into that same angry grimace.

"I'm leaving," Beetlejuice said, clenching his hands into fists.

"Nobody asked you to leave," Barbara said, sounding much calmer than Adam felt.

"I don't care!" Beetlejuice yelled, and a mug on his bedside table exploded, sending pieces of ceramic and week-old coffee all over the room. 

Being ghosts, the Maitlands were unaffected by the shrapnel, but it still made them both jump. Adam glanced at Barbara, hoping he could try to convince her that they should just remove themselves from the situation. But Barbara was looking determinedly ahead, and slowly raised her hands. She moved slowly to the right, pushing Adam along with her, so neither of them were blocking the exit. Beetlejuice watched them move with wide, wild eyes. 

"If you want to leave, we aren't going to stop you," Barbara said, keeping her voice steady, "But we aren’t asking you to. I need you to sto-.”

“ _I didn’t even want to stay here!”_ Beetlejuice repeated, voice shrill.

Adam wondered if he was trying to convince himself more than he was them. The sound of more people coming up the stairs came from the doorway, and Beetlejuice twitched. The entire structure of the room changed, the door disappearing as the walls warped around it, sealing the Maitlands inside. The shadows in the room seemed to grow larger, dancing in the corner of Adam’s vision. Beetlejuice started advancing again, and Adam grabbed onto Barbara’s waist.

Barbara stood her ground as Beetlejuice got right up in her face. From this distance, Adam could see just how much Beetlejuice’s face had distorted into something entirely more demonic. His fangs were overly large, his pupils turned to slits, his hair bright red and stuck up at angles.

“We don’t want you to leave,” Barbara said, ignoring Adam’s attempts to pull her away.

“ _STOP LYING TO ME,”_ Beetlejuice screamed, right in her face.

Beetlejuice raised a hand, his nails turned into sharp black talons. The floorboards beneath their feet shifted and twisted up their legs, and Adam was rooted to the spot. It didn’t hurt, but it still felt crushingly uncomfortable around his calves.

“Beetlejuice,” Barbara said, and he flinched at the use of his full name, “Listen to me, we aren’t lying to you. We don’t want you to leave. I know you’re angry, but can you let us go, please?”

Beetlejuice made a raspy sobbing noise, deep in his throat. He didn’t move to release them, but the movement of the light above them settled to stillness, the shadows in the room retreating, and Adam got a better look at his face. Beetlejuice was staring desperately at them, switching his gaze from Barbara to Adam and back again. Adam swallowed and tried to calm himself, remembering how the clones had been clinging to Beetlejuice before he had poofed them away.

Adam reached out, slowly, to put a hand on Beetlejuice’s shoulder. The demon watched the hand as it approached, and twitched when Adam made contact. Beetlejuice looked back at Adam, that same desperate look on his face, and this time his eyes were shiny. He lowered the clawed hand that was raised, and the Maitlands were freed from the floorboards.

“Thank you,” Barbara said, following suit and placing a hand on Beetlejuice’s other shoulder.

Beetlejuice made that same growling sob noise, and dropped his head down, his hands coming up to wipe at his face and tug at his hair. Adam could hear him mumbling a string of _shit, shit, shit,_ more garbled than usual due to the oversized fangs that were still jutting out of his mouth. While he wasn’t looking, Barbara shot Adam a look. She looked worried, and he immediately knew the earlier confidence had been a façade.

Beetlejuice was still muttering to himself, head down, but the claws on his hands were gone. Adam squeezed his shoulder gently.

“Beetlejuice?” Adam asked, “Would you like to sit down?”

Adam had meant the bed, but Beetlejuice immediately lowered himself to the floor, his legs crossed, and his hands still buried in his hair. The Maitlands looked at each other and went down with him, not breaking contact. Barbara rubbed slow circles on his back, and Beetlejuice began to rock in time with them.

They sat like that for a minute, mostly in silence except for the occasional sniffle on Beetlejuice’s part. Barbara continued to rub his back, while he calmed himself down. Eventually, the hands stopped moving, the muttering stopped, and his hair had faded from bright red to a ruddy brown.

Barbara was the one to break the silence, “We need to talk about what just happened.”

Adam looked at his wife, as Beetlejuice stilled under his hand. In his mind, it would be better to just convince Beetlejuice to restore the architecture of the room so they could leave, and never speak of this again. Talking sounded like a horrible idea, one that might even set off the unstable demon in front of them, again. Barbara seemed to read his face, because she immediately doubled down.

“Beetlejuice, can you explain what just happened?” She asked, before adding, “We aren’t angry.”

Beetlejuice shrank lower, still not raising his head.

“I don’t know,” He muttered.

“Beetlejuice,” She said again, “We can’t have this happen every time you’re upset.”

“I don’t _know,”_ Beetlejuice repeated, louder this time, and Adam pulled his hand away, “I— _Fuck,_ sorry. I’m just… I just _lose control_ sometimes. I tried. I came up here to…”

He trailed off.

“You came up here to calm down?” Adam finished for him.

Beetlejuice nodded, and Adam felt a little bad. He had come up here to make sure he was okay, and instead had set him off again.

Adam sighed, “I’m sorry for coming in here, then.”

“He shouldn’t have attacked you, Adam,” Barbara said, sternly.

Beetlejuice groaned, his hands dropping into his lap, where they clutched each other, tightly.

“You really didn’t come here to tell me to leave?” Beetlejuice asked.

“No,” Adam said, “I came here to see if you were okay.”

“ _Shit._ I’m so stupid,” Beetlejuice groaned, “I fuck up everything.”

“No, you’re not stupid,” Barbara said, “And we can work on helping you control your anger better.”

“But _Lydia_ I…” Beetlejuice started, his voice cracking, “I don’t know how to make her like me again.”

The Maitlands shared another look. At their silence, Beetlejuice finally lifted his head to look at them, and Adam could see the genuine worry on his face, an expression that seemed impossible on him just a few minutes ago.

“She likes you now,” Adam tried, “She was just frustrated with you, that’s all. Doesn’t mean she hates you forever.”

“You _do_ talk a lot,” Barbara said, bluntly, “Too much, sometimes.”

“You don’t _get it,”_ Beetlejuice said, his hands started ringing themselves, “I can’t… I was alone for so long. None of you _understand._ ”

“You’re right, we don’t,” Adam said, worried that they were riling him up again, “And I’m sorry. I really am. We wouldn’t have let you come back here if we didn’t know that, though. Lydia still likes you, just give her a bit of time to cool off, okay?”

Beetlejuice made an affirmative noise, reluctantly agreeing with him. Barbara removed her arm from him, and he sighed at the loss and looked at the ground again. Adam couldn’t help but feel some sympathy for him.

“Could you let us out?” Barbara asked, motioning at the doorless wall, “We should make sure everyone isn’t worried about us.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Beetlejuice said, albeit sounding a little reluctant, and he flicked out a hand.

The walls contorted themselves back to their original structure, the door reforming exactly as it was before. It immediately flew open, Charles barrelling himself into the room. He stopped, however, at the sight of the three ghosts sat calmly on the floor. Barbara stood, dusted herself off, and took Charles by the arm, steering him back towards the door as he demanded an explanation.

“Don’t worry, we’re all fine,” Barbara said, the same calm cadence she had used with Beetlejuice.

“Yeah, Chuck, we’re fine,” Beetlejuice said, sounding all too confident for someone who was on the verge of a breakdown over his friendship with a teen girl.

Charles glared at the demon over his shoulder as Barbara led them both out of the room. Adam waited until their footsteps had faded down the stairs before moving to stand up himself, but Beetlejuice grabbed onto his arm to stop him.

“Shit. Sorry, I know I’m not supposed to do that,” He said, immediately letting go again.

“That’s okay,” Adam said, feeling a twinge of sympathy again, “Do you need something?”

“Can you stay, for a while?” Beetlejuice asked, his hands moving to smooth down the front of his shirt, “I won’t… Do anything. I just, I don’t want to be alone.”

“Sure, B,” Adam said, “I can stay. You, um, think you could teach me how to do that thing where you change the walls and floors? I can only do lights.”

Beetlejuice grinned at the nickname, “Yeah sure, but only if you aren’t going to use it for nerdy shit like redecorating.”

Spoiler: He was totally going to use it for nerdy shit like redecorating.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me at hellminth.tumblr.com


End file.
